Brunel wins race, MAPFRE pads lead

Newport, RI (May 19, 2018) – Bouwe Bekking’s Team Brunel sailed a perfect race on this afternoon, winning the start, edging into a lead and extending away for a convincing victory in the Gurney’s Resorts In-Port Race Newport.

“We knew the start was going to be critical,” said Brunel’s helmsman Peter Burling after the race. “We came off the line in good shape and were able to sail clean the rest of the race and that made our life pretty easy…

“It’s nice to take the win and great to have a bit of momentum. We’ve put together a few really good results in row now and we’re hoping to come home really strong. We have a great bunch of sailors on board and we’re really enjoying our yachting and looking forward to pushing this boat as hard as we can.”

A second place finish by MAPFRE allowed the In Port Race overall series leader to extend its advantage from five to eight points. It was another impressive come from behind performance by skipper Xabi Fernández and his team, who were in fifth place early in the race, before making several passes on the second long leg of the race.

Local hero Charlie Enright led his Vestas 11th Hour Racing team to a third place podium finish, pleasing the home crowd who came out in force despite cool temperatures and overcast, wet conditions.

David Witt’s SHK/Scallywag nailed down fourth place, ahead of Dongfeng Race Team who made a late charge but couldn’t complete the pass before the finish line.

Meanwhile, team AkzoNobel were able to overhaul Turn the Tide on Plastic on the first lap of the race course to claim sixth place.

Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race is scheduled to start at 1400 local time (1800 UTC) tomorrow afternoon. A quick start is predicted with winds near 20 knots in the forecast for the final double-point scoring leg of the 2017-18 edition.

COURSE: Starting on May 20, Leg 9 takes the fleet from Newport, USA to Cardiff, Wales. Race organizers choose to estimate the tactical distance for each leg rather than list the actual distance, an unusual decision that’s revealed once the race starts and the tracker lists the actual distance to finish. The organizers say Leg 9 is 3300nm whereas the actual distance from the tracker is 2878.4nm.

Race details – Tracker – Scoreboard – Race route – Facebook – YouTube

Gurney’s Resorts In-Port Race Newport
1. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 7 points
2. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 6
3. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 5
4. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 4
5. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 3
6. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 2
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 1

Overall In-Port Race Results (after 8 of 11 races)
1. MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP), 50 points
2. Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA), 42
3. Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED), 36
4. Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED), 35
5. Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA), 23
6. Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS), 19
7. Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR), 16

2017-18 Edition: Entered Teams – Skippers
• Team AkzoNobel (NED), Simeon Tienpont (NED)
• Dongfeng Race Team (CHN), Charles Caudrelier (FRA)
• MAPFRE (ESP), Xabi Fernández (ESP)
• Vestas 11th Hour Racing (DEN/USA), Charlie Enright (USA)
• Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag (HKG), David Witt (AUS)
• Turn the Tide on Plastic (POR), Dee Caffari (GBR)
• Team Brunel (NED), Bouwe Bekking (NED)

Background: Racing the one design Volvo Ocean 65, the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race begins in Alicante, Spain on October 22 2017 with the final finish in The Hague, Netherlands on June 30 2018. In total, the 11-leg race will visit 12 cities in six continents: Alicante, Lisbon, Cape Town, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff, Gothenburg, and The Hague. A maximum of eight teams will compete.

Source: Volvo Ocean Race